Maintaining Your Momentum

Ephesians 4:27  Do not give place to the Devil.  The word place is the Greek word “topon“ and means “an area“.  It must also be noted that Paul is speaking to believers.  Believers who have made significant progress both individually and corporately.  He’s basically saying, “Now that you have accomplished so much, don’t give it back.”

This scripture tells us that what is in our heart determines the direction we go and the territory we possess. 

Proverbs 4:23 says, Above all else guard your heart, for it determines the course of your life.  We often associate this scripture with protecting our heart from sinful outside influences, but a guard also makes sure that whatever we have in our heart isn’t stolen. 

2 Timothy 1:14 says By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.  God has done some tremendous works in all of our lives. He has imparted and deposited some wonderful things into our hearts.  The enemy is going to do all that he can to rob you of the things that God has done. We must take precautions to make sure that doesn’t happen.  1Peter 5:8 tells us to Keep your mind clear, and be alert. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion as he looks for someone to devour.

Over the last few months we have seen God do some tremendous things in our midst.  We have seen many new folks come in and become part of our church family.  Even beyond that we have seen some incredible spiritual growth.  I am blown away at the testimonies of what God is doing in many of your lives.  2 Peter 3:18 tell us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.  We are seeing this lived out every day as people grow and become the people that God wants them to be.

 So here’s the question, How do we maintain momentum?  Both individually and corporately. 

1.  Don’t allow yourself to become complacent.

1 Peter 5:8 tells us to be “Keep your mind clear, and be alert.”  Complacency suggests a letting down of your guard.  A relaxing to the point where we are not watching where we’re going.  In the story of Gideon God went through the process of sifting through Gideon’s army until he found the warriors

Judges 7:5+6  So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink.” Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.

He was looking for.  After a period of training the Lord had Gideon  send them to the watering hole for a drink.  Most of the soldiers jumped in or got down on their knees to drink.  However, 300 of them stayed on their feet and bent over to drink while at the same time remaining alert and ready.  These are the soldiers that were kept.  The ones who remained alert even during times of refreshing.  Only those who remain alert will stand the test of time.

I Thessalonians 5:6  says, So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and clear-headed.  It is very easy to let our guard down in the time of blessing.  1 Corinthians 16:13 goes on to say, Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. 

2.  Complacency leads to distraction.

1 Chronicles 20:1 tells us that In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, Joab led out the armed forces. He laid waste the land of the Ammonites and went to Rabbah and besieged it, but David remained in Jerusalem.

Many of us know the story of David and Bath-Sheba.  David fell into sin with Bath-Sheba and it rocked the kingdom of Israel to its core.  But David’s sin began with his complacency. The scripture says that at a time when kings go off to war, David stayed behind in Jerusalem.  Now David was a warrior king.  He was renowned for his prowess in battle.  He was prohibited from building the temple because of all the blood on his hands.  Yet when he should have been out in battle he stayed behind in the comfort of his palace.  David had changed.  This was not the same man who was running for his life from Saul.  The man who had to trust God everyday just to survive.  Disaster happened because he wasn’t where he was supposed to be.  His complacency led to a distraction and it almost cost him everything.  Distraction makes you lose your footing.

Matthew 14:29+30 says that Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”  Peter became distracted by his surroundings and lost his footing.  We must be diligent and keep Christ at the center of our lives.  In Ephesians 6:18 it tells us to Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.

3.  We must learn how to experience God for ourselves.

We cannot be dependent upon the church for our relationship with God and for our experiences in His presence.  At some point we need to outgrow this dependence.  If the only time we experience God is when we are in church than we are in big trouble.

In 1 Peter 2:2  Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation.  Newborn babies are totally dependent on who is taking care of them.  As a newborn gets older they become less and less dependent.  And all the parents say, “Amen.”  By this I am by no way minimizing the importance of going to church and being part of a church.  The scripture teaches us in Hebrews 10:24+25  not to give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

From the very beginning there was an emphasis on the apostle’s teaching and leadership.  In Acts 2:42-47 it says that, They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.  All the believers were together and had everything in common.  Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.  Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

You cannot be a growing and successful child of God without being part of a church, but there comes a time in every believers life that we grow to a place in our spiritual lives that we are able to experience God at home and on our own in a way that will sustain us and cause us to continue to grow when we’re not in church.

In Genesis 32:24 it says that Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.  Jacob was alone.  There was no Temple, no Tabernacle, no church.  It continues in verse 25  “When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.”  Jacob experienced God in a way that affected the way he would walk forever.  Verse 26  Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”  Jacob was tenacious.  He was going to hold on until he received his blessing.  The result is that Jacob was changed and given a new name and a new identity. And he did it all on his own.  Finally in verse 28 it says, Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.”

Summertime is a season where church attendance goes down.  There are vacations, family gatherings, cookouts and changes in work schedules.  If the only source of experiencing God is around these altars and in this room than it’s no wonder we lose momentum.   If you are someone who depends on your church experiences to sustain you and you miss 1 Sunday than that means that person who only experiences God in this church goes 15 days before they get filled up again, If you miss 2 consecutive Sundays that number jumps to 21 days.  So over the course of the Summer say May through August.  You miss 1 Sunday in May, 2 in June, 2 in July, 2 in August and your sole source of experiencing or hearing God comes from being in church. That means over a 4 month period you’d be going a total 78 days without hearing from or experiencing God.  That’s how you lose momentum.

The next step in the development of God’s people is growing to a place where we’re having encounters with God outside of this sanctuary.  This is not only going to allow you to keep your spiritual momentum, but it’s going to make your church services even more powerful.  Ask yourself this question…..How many of us spend time with Lord before church on Sunday morning?  How much better would our services be if we came to church already in the Spirit?

So many of the Bible’s most supernatural encounters with God came when God’s people were alone.  We already spoke about Gideon and Jacob, and then there was Elijah

1 Kings 19:11-14  The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”  Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.  After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.

 We have had some tremendous moves of the Holy Spirit around our altars.  Times when we’ve experienced the wind of God’s presence and the fire of God’s glory.  But some of our most lasting and life changing experiences must happen when we are alone and that still small voice of  the Holy Spirit speaks life into our souls.

As Moses was tending to the sheep God called him to a one on one encounter that would change his life.  God called him to a very special place. 

Genesis 3:4+5  When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within  the bush, “Moses! Moses!”  And Moses said, “Here I am.”  “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

God called Moses to walk on Holy ground.  It was not in church, or district headquarters.  Holy ground is anywhere that God is.

1 Corinthians 6:19  Don't you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself.

People of God you are holy ground.  You are that place that God desires to reveal himself and transform your life.  When that happens the momentum that God has started will never end.  It will just keep getting stronger and more powerful until it consumes your life, your church and everyone around you.